Focused on three Qing dynasty (1644-1912) Empresses, the exhibition includes nearly 200 works, including imperial portraits, jewelry, garments, Buddhist sculptures, and decorative art objects, many from Beijing’s Palace Museum, which was once the Forbidden City, the Qing dynasty’s palace complex.

Exploring the lives of Empress Dowager Chongqing (1693 - 1777), Empress Xiaoxian (1712 - 1748) and Empress Dowager Cixi (1835 - 1908), Empresses of China’s Forbidden City offers a unique opportunity to experience the hidden lives of these powerful women. “We are very proud to reclaim the presence and influence of these empresses, about whom history has largely been silent,” says Daisy Yiyou Wang, PEM’s curator for this exhibition. “The exquisite objects . . . give us a better understanding of these intriguing women. Further evidence [from] historical sources help illuminate their hidden, but inspiring lives.”

The exhibition showcases the largest assemblage of imperial textiles and jewelry ever shared with the U.S. from the Palace Museum. The exquisite jewelry and adornments, stunning embroidery and opulent dragon robes were all used by the Qing dynasty Empresses to project authority.

The art created for, by, and about the Empresses offers a window into their lives. A heartfelt poem written by the Qianlong emperor after his Empress Xiaoxian’s untimely death will be on view to the public for the first time. A 237-pound, gem-encrusted gold shrine, built to commemorate the Empress Dowager Chongqing, will be displayed for the first time outside of China. The recently restored sixteen-foot oil portrait of Empress Dowager Cixi, publicly displayed for the first time since the 1960s, was a gift to President Theodore Roosevelt in 1905. It is a striking representation of the most powerful Empress in Chinese history, one who was part of a succession of empresses who radically changed women's political roles and helped shape China as a nation.